Friday, October 31, 2008

I sent this Prosqtor's Progress link to my leftie friend, a unionized employee of the State of Wisconsin. He used to do honest work in corporate America and has always believed in investing in the stock market. Talk about drinking the Obama Kool Aid. It must be blended in the coffee in the State Office Buildings in Madison.

This is the fun that ensued.

Headless Blogger: If the impossible happens on Nov. 4, you should visit this website.

Leftie Friend: I like it ...I'm SOLD! If the election is thrown again, I may just leave this loser place to you "reds"!

HB: Yeah, frankly if Obama succeeds in stealing the Presidency, I may use the service. Suddenly, Canada will be less socialist than the U.S.

LF: And what is wrong with socialism? (which the US will never fully be)

HB: And what is wrong with socialism?

Say goodbye to your 401(k), IRA and any other stock investments.

LF: They will not get rid of our retirement account options; give me a break! That's ludicrous!

HB:I stand corrected. 401(k)'s will still be around, just without the tax advantages and the employer incentives to match contributions. Oh boy!

LF: The comments on the article were more telling than the article itself.

Innocent Libertarian Bystander: What's wrong with socialism? Oh, not much. Ask the former members of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics how it worked out for them. From each according to his ability to each according to his need.You have ability, so cough it up and give it away to those who have the need. Or rather, have it taken forcibly away from you.

If a single person uses force to take away your wealth and give it to someone else, that's called theft. If the government uses force to take away your wealth and give it to someone else, that's called redistribution of wealth through taxation and is considered perfectly legal.

We'll find out what is wrong with socialism soon enough.

But you're right. The Second Amendment should prevent full socialism in this country.

LF: The USSR was Communist; not socialist. There is a big difference!

HB: Spoken in my best Ronnie voice: Well, there you go again.

After being bombarded by Obama lying about McCain taking Granny's SS Check away for a week, I see nothing wrong with taking the Obama 401(k) redistribution plan to it's logical conclusions. Did you also know that the government will take 50% of what is left in your 401(k) or IRA when you pass away and hand it out to dope fiends, child rapists, community organizers, and other ne'er do wells?

Also, if you think you are getting anything from BO's plan you are fooling yourself. You and I are each in the top 15% of U.S. household income. He's got to draw the line somewhere between who gives and who gets. We are going to be the givers, not the getters.

That exchange is from Monday, interestingly enough by Friday $250,000 has become $120,000. Barry O. has me and my friend in his sights, and this is four days before we vote. With a victory will Obama move that decimal point to the left?

Drudge says McCain is up 48% to 47%. My friend had better start thinking about packing those boxes for the move north of the border.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

What I witnessed last night was the equivalent of that conveniently discovered debris that seems to always cause a yellow caution flag with seven laps to go in too many NASCAR races. Bud Selig has demonstrated a need to manipulate baseball games rather than to let them be played out by the rules. He threw away the Official Rules of Baseball last night, just as he did at the 2002 All Star Game.

Why was completing Monday's World Series game so important that baseball's rules were ignored and the Phillies put at a substantial disadvantage? Was it for the Wednesday pregame Obama infomercial?

The Phillies were screwed by Bud Selig on Monday.

Bud outdid himself this time. This was worse than the 2002 All Star fiasco. Especially considering the All Star Game is a exhibition and last night the Phillies had the 2008 World Series won until Selig intervened.

In this case the Umpire-in-Chief could and should have suspended play after five innings, but that would have made it an official game. And also would made it a Phillies' victory if they could not resume play. Bud said that was a no-no.

"I would not have allowed the World Series to end this way," Selig said late last night, at a Citizens Bank Park press conference that was crowded and uncomfortable.

Unfortunately for the Phillies, in the top of the 6th the conditions were so bad that a routine ground ball third out becomes an "infield hit" and then the tying run. Once the score was tied it was acceptable for Bud to suspend the game. The final three and one-half innings are now scheduled to be played immediately following the Obama ad on Wednesday.

What do the Phillies get when they come to bat in the bottom of the 6th following the Obamamercial? The Rays get to bring in a fresh pitcher, almost certainly their top available starter. The field will then be dry and the fielders, too. And the Phillies Ace is not available to complete the game. The Phillies got screwed by Selig, the Rays play the bottom of the sixth inning with a substantial advantage.

If this game was played using the Official Rules of Baseball, the Phillies win the World Series* on Monday. A rain-shortened game? Yup! Those are the rules for 162 games of the season, but not for Bud in the World Series. He throws away the rulebook and waves the yellow caution flag.

What if they had played by the Rulebook?

First, chances are the game never starts. It is the home team's call whether or not to start, not Selig's excuse to get Obama the maximum audience on Wednesday.

By the fifth inning the field was a mess and the game should have been suspended and replayed on another day. But by then Bud had to keep it going.

In the sixth inning it was a crime to make Cole Hamels pitch in that crap. His effectiveness was lost to the wet ball and his defense was crippled by poor vision and wet hands. Selig bent over backwards to give the Rays a chance to score, then he suspended the game with the weather no worse than in the top half of the inning.

Selig said that he wanted a full nine inning game, but the Rules of Baseball give the umpires that sole discretion. Per the Rulebook, Selig has no say in the matter.

The Rules say:

4.01(d) As soon as the home team’s batting order is handed to the umpire-in-chief the umpires are in charge of the playing field and from that moment they shall have sole authority to determine when a game shall be called, suspended or resumed on account of weather or the condition of the playing field.

According to JSOnline, here's what Selig said.

By scoring a run in the top of the sixth, the Rays prevented Selig from making a difficult decision. With Philadelphia leading, 2-1, entering that inning, the rules allowed for the Phillies to be given a rain-shortened victory and therefore the World Series title.

But Selig said he would not have allowed the crown to be settled in that fashion. No World Series game ever has been started and not played at least nine innings (three ended in a tie).

"I have to use my judgment," Selig said. "That's not a way to decide the World Series."

Wrong Bud. That is the way baseball is played. You are the Commissioner, not an umpire. What's next, is Bud going to call balls and strikes from the Commissioner's box?

*There is my asterisk. The Phillies are the 2008 World Champions in 5 games.

This ham is in the style of the most famous hams, prosciutto di Parma and San Daniele, Bayonne, and Serrano. It's the most simple kind of dry-cured ham, anyone can do the curing, but the quality of the end result is entirely dependent on the hog, where it lived, what it ate, how fat it grew.

This is another recipe from Charcuterie by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn. Because my Berkshire hog was raised until slaughter in Baraboo, I believe the proper name for my ham is Prosciutto di Baraboo.

I placed the salted ham in the vegetable crisper, safely out of the way of other activity. I put a 10 pound weight on the ham to squeeze out moisture as it cured for three weeks, and applied more salt regularly.

After the curing, the salt is rinsed off and the ham is dried.

The meat was covered with lard (it helps to keep the exposed flesh from overdrying) then sprinkled with cracked black pepper (the books says the pepper helps to keep bugs away - Yummo!).

I didn't take any pictures of this step because my hands were covered with lard.

Wrapped in cheesecloth, the ham will hang in my basement for 4 to 5 months to dry. It will be ready just in time for St. Paddy's Day.

"Our liberty cannot be guarded but by the freedom of the press, nor that be limited without danger of losing it." --Thomas Jefferson to John Jay, 1786.

Add Bob Jordan and Barbara West to my list of heroes. I have some certainty that their lives will be torn apart in public ala Joe the Plumber.

"This cancellation is non-negotiable, and further opportunities for your station to interview with this campaign are unlikely, at best for the duration of the remaining days until the election," wrote Laura K. McGinnis, Central Florida communications director for the Obama campaign.

McGinnis said the Biden cancellation was "a result of her husband's experience yesterday during the satellite interview with Barbara West."

Obviously, Jordan and West did not attend Columbia's School of Journalism. This kind of thought is not taught there.

"The most effectual engines for [pacifying a nation] are the public papers... [A despotic] government always [keeps] a kind of standing army of newswriters who, without any regard to truth or to what should be like truth, [invent] and put into the papers whatever might serve the ministers. This suffices with the mass of the people who have no means of distinguishing the false from the true paragraphs of a newspaper." --Thomas Jefferson to G. K. van Hogendorp, Oct. 13, 1785. (*) ME 5:181, Papers 8:632

Life in the Obama Administration will be ugly for dissenters. We are not just getting hints, Obama's campaign has issued warnings and shown numerous examples of what to expect.

"No government ought to be without censors, and where the press is free, no one ever will. If virtuous, it need not fear the fair operation of attack and defence. Nature has given to man no other means of sifting out the truth whether in religion, law or politics. I think it as honorable to the government neither to know nor notice its sycophants or censors, as it would be undignified and criminal to pamper the former and persecute the latter." --Thomas Jefferson to George Washington, 1792. ME 8:406

Sadly, it will take members of the Party of Lincoln to school the Party of Jefferson in what a free press means our other freedoms. I fear that it may take another of Jefferson's lesson to make it happen.

"To preserve the freedom of the human mind... and freedom of the press, every spirit should be ready to devote itself to martyrdom; for as long as we may think as we will and speak as we think, the condition of man will proceed in improvement." Thomas Jefferson to William Green Munford, 1799.

This is because both presidential candidates, and of course many other people, nervously claim that there is a “Health Care Crisis! We have to do something!”

Yes, it’s so bad that the people are living longer and longer and longer… This picture says that whatever the crisis is, it clearly doesn’t have to do with that part of health that keeps people alive. I would argue that that part is the most important; apparently, others disagree.

The graph shows that the odds for survival of older Americans have nearly doubled in the last 50 years. That looks more like a retirement funding crisis than a healthcare crisis to me. But what do I know? I am not a doctor or an actuary.

I'm still waiting for McCain or the Republicans to put up an ad reporting the Obama-Democrat plans to take away our 401(k). Talk about front page news, this has far more significance to far more Americans than any of the Bill Ayers distractions.

If their plan is implemented, I think there will be a real CRISIS in the United States. The dreams of Bill Ayers or Jefferson Davis may finally come true.

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Today on my way to lunch I passed a homeless guy with a sign that read "Vote Obama, I need the money." I laughed.

Once in the restaurant my server had on a "Obama 08" tie, again I laughed as he had given away his political preference--just imagine the coincidence.

When the bill came I decided not to tip the server and explained to him that I was exploring the Obama redistribution of wealth concept. He stood there in disbelief while I told him that I was going to redistribute his tip to someone who I deemed more in need--the homeless guy outside. The server angrily stormed from my sight.

I went outside, gave the homeless guy $10 and told him to thank the server inside as I've decided he could use the money more. The homeless guy was grateful.

At the end of my rather unscientific redistribution experiment I realized the homeless guy was grateful for the money he did not earn, but the waiter was pretty angry that I gave away the money he did earn even though the actual recipient needed money more.

I guess redistribution of wealth is an easier thing to swallow in concept than in practical application.

Frankly, I am tempted to try something similar if Milwaukee County approves their increased sales tax.

Since the only thing I buy in Milwaukee versus surrounding counties is restaurant food, I have some control of the situation. I will just deduct the extra 1% sales tax from the tip I leave my server. I end up spending no more than I would now, the server has no idea that I shorted her or him, and Milwaukee County collects the extra 1% sales tax.

Ethanol producers are jockeying for a seat on the increasingly crowded bailout bandwagon. Just last Friday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer addressed the plight of those poor, poor businessmen who got locked into the cost of corn this summer. Just like oil and natural gas, the current price is half of what it was at its peak.

I had not realized that corn prices had crashed since this Summer's peak. Here's my graphic overlay of corn and oil prices.

I have not asked the Wisconsin ethanol producers for their opinion, but to my eye, corn prices now (since December 2007) march in lockstep with crude oil prices (you may click any of the graphs for an enlarged view).

Stew on that one for a while ... OPEC now controls the price of your Frosted Flakes.

Contrary to this WFBL claim ...

ETHANOL helps ease gas prices.With gas prices projected to be more than $4.00 per gallon this year, the use of ethanol-blended fuel usually lowers gas by 15 cents per gallon. It’s not a great savings, but every little bit helps with oil production controlled by OPEC and large oil companies making large profits

Ethanol does NOT ease gas prices, oil prices set ethanol and corn prices.

The fact is that corn prices are now arbitraged to oil prices. This is true solely because corn is used to produce ethanol. This was not the case just one year ago, but it is now. What has changed is that there is now excess ethanol production capacity in the U.S.

Because of this excess capacity, ethanol producers must compete for limited corn resources to produce their product. As oil prices rise, the price for corn will increase because these ethanol producers will bid corn prices up to chase the opportunity for increased profits.

This ain't just me speculating anymore. Here is your proof.

Weekly Light Crude Oil Prices, NYMEX

Weekly Corn Prices, CBOT

Weekly Oil versus Corn Prices

I think the next graph is particularly interesting. I pasted the commodity price of ethanol over the corn and crude oil graph. It shows that prior to October 2007, ethanol was selling at a premium to the cost of the raw material (corn) and energy (oil or natural gas) used in it's production.

This profit premium created an ethanol gold rush as everyone and his brother(So how's the ethanol business going Luther?) decided to build an ethanol plant. As a result, windfall profits are no longer available from ethanol production and many of these new distilleries are failing.

Weekly Oil versus Corn versus Ethanol Prices

Today's Question - When you fill your tank with that $2.50 gasoline, does it feel like you're stealing the shit?

Considering Obama's dishonesty about his seemingly innocent professional relationship with Ayers, there is clearly something much deeper here. Obama's recent admission of his socialist dreams of redistribution of income and wealth, put him closer to the politics of Bill Ayers than of another 1960's liberal icon, Robert Kennedy, whose assassin is celebrated in the dedication of Ayers' book.

I believe that it will eventually be shown that the Ayers-Obama relationship has it's roots in their common radical political activities at Columbia University in the early 1980's.

Contrary to the research I posted in July, I have now determined that corn can never become too expensive to produce ethanol for profit. It will always be profitable if the Ag Department's ethanol pimps have any say in spreading our tax dollars around.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer said the federal government is considering outlays of as much as $25 million to help ethanol plants, which have been hit by volatile commodity prices.

Announcer: Obama and the Congressional Democrats are holding hearings on eliminating your 401(k). They'll have the government manage your retirement funds instead of you, and take away your employer's match.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

I read this story of a 12 year old girl being called racist by her classmates for wearing a Sarah Palin T-shirt and wondered: Has Racist become the new N-word?

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — She’s only 12 years old but Ashleigh Jones is feeling the heat of this election year.

That’s because the seventh grader at New Smyrna Beach Middle School was called a racist by classmates for wearing a pro-Sarah Palin t-shirt.

Jones is volunteering at the Republican Headquarters in New Smyrna Beach. The Palin t-shirt was a gift from her fellow volunteers. But when she wore it to school she learned just how tough politics can be.

“Some of the students were calling me racist because I was Caucasian,” she said. “I wanted the Caucasian man to win. And I told them that’s not true. It’s my freedom of speech, it’s my opinion.”

"Racist" is thrown around today like that other word was decades ago. It is meant to stop discussion in its tracks by placing the user in a position of power, either racial or moral; and to put the target of the word on the defensive. The shock effect of both words is used to deliberately cause offense.

Hate speech is a term for speech intended to degrade, intimidate, or incite violence or prejudicial action against a person or group of people based on their race, gender, age, ethnicity, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, language ability, moral or political views, socioeconomic class, occupation or appearance (such as height, weight, and hair color), mental capacity and any other distinction that might be considered by some as a liability.

It is no secret that the use of identical words will be considered acceptable from the lips of leftist and socialist Democrats, but is called racist when expressed by conservative or moderate Republicans.

Real racist words and actions have become so rare today that the word has lost any meaning. It was a mere 20 years ago that my boss in Alabama told me not to shop at a certain store because it was a "nigger shack." It was also there that my African-American co-worker was told to drive the opposite way when he stopped and asked for directions. That was and is racism. Wearing a Sarah Palin T-shirt is not racism.

Racist is now tossed around as a way of saying, "Shut up. I'm not listening. You are wrong." Today's whiners and race-baiters have never experienced racism and do not know what it is.

If the R-word gets thrown at you, do not passively take it. Call out this hate speech for what it is.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Obama and Biden think it is hilarious that Joe the Plumber has a dream of owning his own business some day. They both know that it is implausible for a workingman without an Ivy League degree to own and run a business. Especially a business clearing over a quarter million dollars in a year.

Joe the Plumber is a punchline for Obama and Biden. Besides, it says in their reference book that the Proletariat cannot become a part of the Bourgeoisie.

I don't know Joe the Plumber. But I know John the Mechanic very well.

John the Mechanic

I first met John at my son's Boy Scout meetings. John would often be there in greasy clothes and with dirty nails. But he always had time for his sons and had a positive outlook on his place in life.

Within a few years I learned that John had bought an auto repair shop. To become a business owner meant leaving the relative security of his previous job, accepting a large amount of risk, and many sleepless nights.

I started taking my cars to John's shop because I trusted John, and he proved my trust was deserved. I could count on John answering my calls at 6:00 a.m or 6:00 p.m., that was part of the responsibility he had accepted.

Over the years, the parking lot at John' shop has become more crowded and the wait to have repairs done is longer. There are also a lot more people working there now; more than two dozen employees, including his wife and one of his sons. John's nails and clothes are also cleaner today.

Barack the Socialist

When Barack the Socialist worked as a Community Organizer on Chicago's Southside, he could have encouraged the youths there too seek vocational training to become mechanics, electricians, or even plumbers. Instead, he organized them to demand increased government handouts, mortgage loans they could not afford to pay, and to engage in vote fraud.

Had these youths become tradesmen, some would have decided that the risk of owning a business was something they were willing to take on. It would have meant jobs for the community and creation of wealth for these risk takers. Instead, Barack the Socialist believes that guys like John the Mechanic should have the rewards from the risks he has taken confiscated and redistributed to the adults that the Community Organizer did not encourage to earn for themselves.

Barack Obama has never done anything to encourage free enterprise. He's played the dirty game with the Chicago insiders, doling government favors to his political allies. Guys like Joe and John do not register on his radar.

Obama is fulfilling the dream of his father. Implementing Socialism on a much larger scale then even his father could have dreamed.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

At the bottom of this energy and food inflation was a political effort to fight global warming by discouraging investment in fossil fuel production capacity and encouraging the use of renewables such as ethanol made from corn. During the past year, major petroleum producing firms announced drastic cutbacks in energy infrastructure investment plans. Similar efforts were in progress in other countries. Rising gasoline and diesel fuel prices rippled through the economy, affecting everything that moves by fuel-powered vehicles. A massive diversion of farm capacity toward fuel ethanol production occurred while federal and state governments eliminated MTBE, a virtually harmless gasoline component synthesized from natural gas and constituting about 3% of the nation's gasoline supply. The inflation surge was reminiscent of the mid-1970s energy crisis that also produced an inflation that the Federal Reserve elected to fight with tight monetary policy.

Friday, October 17, 2008

James T. Harris finally has had enough with CNN, which used to be a cable news network. On the radio today, he went through the preconditions that he set for this appearance on CNN. CNN violated their agreement, Harris left the set.

Here is the set up.

After being called a sell-out several times by Shelley Wynter, an African American Obama supporter claiming to be a conservative, Harris responded.

I am sick to death of the word sellout. And the guest just on used it about seven or eight times.

Listen, let me make this perfectly clear. I am not saying that Senator John McCain is a conservative. I am a conservative. Senator John McCain happens to be my candidate. And I have a better chance of pulling him over to my position, as a moderate Republican, than I do a liberal socialist. It's as simple as that. I would really appreciate it if people would just back up off of the name calling, because it gets nowhere in the dialogue.

(...)

I'm all for back and forth. I'm all for dialogue, but I'm not for name calling. You have never ...

Outside of calling someone (a liberal, a socialist) what they are, I don't call people who vote for Barack Obama names. That is their choice.

I am making my choice as a free American, and I'm sick to death of liberals coming on and bashing me because of my choice as a man.

I am a man who can make a choice and I am sick and tired of people bleeding all over me because of their insecurities. You're insecure man. Don't tell me what I am.

No. Whoa. Nothing. I'm done. I'm done.

Mr. Wynter tried to claim that he used "sell-out" in the context of Harris' conservative principals. That is pure crap.

He used "sell-out" as code words for Harris being a race traitor. Something "conservative" Wynter isn't because he is supporting Obama, the most liberal U.S. Senator ever. Beyond liberal or progressive, Obama has now revealed himself as a socialist.

False: Although Obama said, "I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody," that is not the focus of his tax plan.

Barack Obama's tax plan will spread the income around, and has very little affect on wealth.

Reviewing his plan, the only provision I found affecting wealth was the reinstitution of the estate tax, which does not impact the truly wealthy. Although the estate tax will be paid by people like Joe the Plumber, Todd the Fisherman, and Charlie the Talk Show Host; folks like Bill the Software Magnate, Warren the Investment Tycoon, and Oprah the Media Conglomerate will shield their wealth from the estate tax by creation of trusts.

Barack Obama will shelter his wealthy friends from wealth redistribution, but will seize the ordinary income, interest and dividends, and capital gains of working Americans. That seized income will be given to Barry the Community Organizer, Bernadette the Bomb Builder and other slackers with a huge senses of entitlement.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

When I read the transcript of Obama's "pie" speech I thought that he had absolutely lost his mind. However, listening to the response of the crowd, he was obviously not talking about dessert. He was speaking in some sort of Obonics that this listener did not understand. Listen to it yourself.

In order to understand the meaning of "pie" I went to the Urban Dictionary. There are several definitions of "pie" there, I found the most fitting of them to be these.

A Kilo of coke. That probably does not still apply. Obama left behind his drug abuse and dealing in the 1980's. Or so the story goes.

Reference to female genitalia! Now this is a definite possibility. Obama was campaigning with the Democrat Governor of Ohio, and Democrats and extramarital sex go together like apple pie and ice cream.

What the Jefferson's got a piece of when they moved on up, to the East side, to the deluxe apartment in the sky. This was my first thought, Obama plans to redistribute wealth in his Socialist utopia. Dividing the pie, this is sometimes called, and it is consistent with his remarks to that plumber. That would also account for the positive response from Obama's supporters.

A random word to shout for no particular reason at all. This seems to best fit the situation, and probably best describes Obama's rhetorical brilliance (i.e., incredibly childish). "Barack, time out, go to your room."

For the last month, just about every other word that was spoken by McCain or Palin was turned by the left into some sort of racial "Code Word." Again we have an example of "He who smell't it, delt it," as we used to say. How many more hidden meanings are built into Obama's prepared remarks that whitey just doesn't get? Is there a list of Obonic Code Words that I can review to educate myself?

Anyone still want to believe Obama didn't mean to call Sarah Palin a pig with lipstick?

Monday, October 13, 2008

He was supposed to be stumping for Obama by now. All we get is John F. Kerry.

How can Obama afford all these TV ads?

He's running them 10 to 1 more than McCain, including being the only one running national ads on the NFL and MLB Playoff broadcasts. The officially reported money difference between the campaigns is not that big. When they find out after the election that George Soros was funneling money beyond the campaign finance limits, what happens?

Sunday, October 12, 2008

If Ron Weisflog was an "Angry Man," I would have known it by now. Upon reading the Waukesha Freeman story, I googled and found he lives within 1/4 mile of my house. Mr. Weisflog is a local businessman and strong Republican supporter, but I've never witnessed him going berserk in the neighborhood. The Freeman reports.

But what about that Angry Man moniker? Weisflog said Friday he wasn't really mad at all. He acknowledges he night have gotten a little fired up by the crowd Thursday at the Center Court Sports Complex in Northview Road. He never imagined any of the attention his comments have received, though it has increased his resolve to support McCain.

At that rally, Weisflog and James T. Harris expressed the frustration that has been created by the failure of the mainstream press to investigate Obama. The MSM has spent more time and column inches exposing Palin's Taser-quiddick "scandal," than they have on investigating Rezko, Wright, Ayers, and Obama's place of birth combined. Obama has received more than a free pass. The MSM has not just failed to dig for dirt, they have ignored legitimate issues that have been dumped in their laps.

And it goes beyond that. The Obama campaign is being largely funded by foreigners in violation of Federal election law and is complicit with the massive vote fraud being perpetrated by ACORN. Nothing but crickets chirping from the MSM.

I believe that this press emphasis has made the Angry Red Stater meme a self fulfilling prophesy. Our complaints have become the storyline, not the self-censorship of legitimate reporting on Obama by the radical left-wingers who dominate the supposedly mainstream media.

A better line of questioningInstead of expressing frustration with the press and the illegal activities of the Obama campaign, McCain supporters would do better to highlight how his policies can end the current financial crisis and make America stronger.

An Obama Presidency will include the restoration of the recently expired offshore drilling ban and the wasting of significant resources on risky alternative energy schemes being by promoted by various hucksters. The McCain-Palin policy of developing U.S. energy resources will mean more jobs, a reduced trade deficit and a stronger America. Go there John, highlight that policy difference. It is a winner.The best part of the story

While he was making his comments, though, Weisflog's wife, Gloria, had excused herself from the rally. (...) By the time she got to the parking lot, she heard her husband on speakers placed there for the overflow crowd saying, "I'm mad. I'm really mad." Gloria thought, "oh gosh," she said.

ABC's Political Radar mocks Obama, using his own words. Seriously. It was not Sarah Palin this time, it really was The One.

Unprecedented.

"I was in this small town in Ohio called Georgetown, OH – little town," he began, "And we went to a diner because I decided I wanted some pie (1)."

At this point a woman in the Philadelphia crowd, listening to the story, offered to make Obama a treat.

"You gonna make me some pie (2)?" he asked, "What kind of pie do you make (3)? Sweet potato pie (4)? Alright. Alright. We might have to have a sweet potato pie (5) contest. I'll be the judge. Cause I know my sweet potato pie (6). But they did not have sweet potato pie (7) at this particular establishment," he said speaking again of the diner in Ohio. "So instead I got coconut crème pie (8). I'll take a crème pie (9), I don't mind. I like all kind of pie (10). The Governor of Ohio, he had lemon meringue pie (11) . So we had ordered our pie (12), and the employees there decided they wanted to take a picture of me," he concluded, "But just as we were finishing up taking the picture, the owner comes out, with our pie (13)."

“We decided to stop at a diner because I was hungry and I decided I wanted some pie (1). Pie (2). That’s what I wanted.”

At which point, as usual, someone in the crowd listening offered some pie of their own.

“You make pie(3)?” Obama asked? “What kind of pie (4) you make? Sweet potato pie (5)? I like sweet potato pie (6). I’m thinking of having a sweet potato pie (7) here in Philadelphia? Because I’ve heard a lot of people are saying they can make sweet potato pie (8). I’ll put it up against my mother in laws sweet potato pie (9). Alright, you give up? Nah. You. So anyway they did not have sweet potato pie (10) in South OH. So I had coconut cream pie (11). The governor of OH he had lemon meringue pie (12). So we ordered our pie (13) and I decide that I’m going to take a picture with the wait staff.”

It was at this point that he had matched his record. Had he stopped here, it certainly would have been impressive…yet not historic. I would like to say the crowd stood silent waiting to see if he would break the record, thrilled to say they witnessed someone reach pie immortality. But the truth is, they might have been silent out of concern. How much pie can one person take? Nevertheless, the record was within reach. And Obama continued:

“Just as we were finished taking the picture and the owner comes out, with our pie (14). So I take my pie (15).”

You just cannot make this stuff up. That was 15 pies in 104 seconds for those of you counting.

Friday, October 10, 2008

As I've been teasing, Mrs. Headless earned a pair of tickets for yesterday's McCain-Palin rally in Waukesha. Unfortunately, I had a meeting that could not be missed so she took a neighbor with her instead.

Actually, it was probably a good thing that I was not there. I might have made that crazy sounding guy look rational, and possibly earned some face-time with the Secret Service.

And wouldn't you know it? Doesn't it always seem that when you go early to the theater or a game to get a good seat, someone always drags in late and sits in front of you? And invariably it is a guy of NBA height or a tall lady with big hair. Same thing for Mrs. Headless yesterday. These are a handful of her photos. She did a great job.

I don't think this is Tommy's best side.

I'm still looking for Tommy's good side.

The now famous James T. Harris was seated near my wife. For a proud minivan driver, the man has style. Obama can only dream of looking this good.

Governor Palin is in the building.

Hard to get a shot in without including that lady's hair.

Here's one without the hair. Senator McCain looks pretty spry for an old fart. I think I want him on my side if I'm going to an ass whoopin'.

Another shot of that lady's hair. I should quit complaining, my wife said that the lady was very nice and extremely gracious.

A good photo of Governor Palin responding to a question. You can barely see the hair.

I would have loved to have been there, but I was busy doing my part to make nuclear energy safe for America. All things considered, I cannot complain. I am extremely happy with the swag my wife brought home for me.

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

We have already established that non-resident students living in university residence halls in Wisconsin cannot legally register and vote in Wisconsin. This does not contradict the wording of Section 6.10, Elector Residence, of the Wisconsin Statutes.

(4) The residence of an unmarried person sleeping in one ward and boarding in another is the place where the person sleeps. The residence of an unmarried person in a transient vocation, a teacher or a student who boards at different places for part of the week, month or year, if one of the places is the residence of the person’s parents, is the place of the parents’ residence unless through registration or similar act the person elects to establish a residence elsewhere.

For voter registration purposes, Paragraph 6.10 (a) requires that a Wisconsin residence must be “the place where the person’s habitation is fixed, without any present intent to move.” Because UW dorm contracts are for only nine months of any year, they cannot honestly be elected as a student’s permanent Wisconsin residence.

NB – I received feedback on my previous post from a law professor. He said that while voting by these students is illegal, it is not fraud unless they were aware of the requirements for residency when they register or vote. Students: If you have read this far, you are now aware of the residency requirements for voting in Wisconsin. You will be committing fraud if you are a dorm occupant and elect to register and vote at your temporary college address.

Other requirements of Wisconsin residency

Notwithstanding the above discussion, when a student elects to register and vote at his or her college address, the clock begins on several other obligations for Wisconsin residents. Michael Krauss notes several of these possible ramifications in this NRO piece.

But even if an honest student has suddenly acquired the intention of residing indefinitely in his college town, does he understand the legal implications of a residence change? Where is the student filing her income-tax return (will she be liable for another state’s tax)? Is the student claimed as a dependent on her parents’ return (if so, it is hard to have a separate legal residence)? Does the student have a residence-dependent scholarship (some require that recipients reside in a particular town or state) that might be imperiled by a change of residence? Would the student’s automobile or health-insurance coverage be affected by a change in residence, especially if the student is covered by her parents’ policy?

Here is a look at some of the these implications for students registering to vote in Wisconsin.

Taxes

A student declaring herself or himself a Wisconsin resident will need to address two changes in their tax status. First, they are required to follow Wisconsin law for filing income tax return as a full-year Wisconsin resident. Second, and with more dramatic ramifications, they can no longer be claimed as a dependent on their parents’ tax returns.

Filing of Wisconsin full-year resident taxes will probably be inconsequential to most students. The tax rates for low income individuals in Wisconsin are so minuscule that many students will see little change in Wisconsin taxes versus their previous state of residence. They may even be exempt from filing a Wisconsin return.

However, the parents of these students need to be aware that the IRS has a test for determining if a child may be claimed as a dependent. The IRS Tax Tutorial for evaluating the dependent status of a child includes this residency test which must be satisfied.

Residency Test — Qualifying Child To meet this test, the child must:

Have lived with you for more than half of the year or Meet one of the exemptions listed below:

Temporary absences — illness, education, business, vacation, or military service

Death or birth of child — a child who was born or died during the year

Once a student establishes their primary residence at a location away from their parent’s home in order to vote, the IRS does not allow the parent to legally claim their child as a dependent on their tax return. This is true for both resident and non-resident students attending college in Wisconsin.

With a statewide database of registered voters, it would be simple for the IRS to begin checking claimed dependents against the established residence of these individuals.

Health insurance

Dependent status for tax and health insurance purposes goes hand-in-hand. If a student cannot pass the IRS residency test, their parents cannot claim them as a dependent for health insurance without committing insurance fraud. The student will need to purchase their own health insurance policy.

That vote for in Wisconsin hope and change is starting to get expensive, isn’t it?

Driver and vehicle registration

Registering to vote in Wisconsin starts the clock ticking on other requirements. Upon registering to vote, these students have 60 days to obtain a Wisconsin driver's license.

Other drivers new to Wisconsin are required to apply for a Wisconsin driver license within 60 days of establishing residency.

First things first:When you become a Wisconsin resident, you must obtain Wisconsin registration (license plates) for your vehicle within two days of moving here. We cannot give credit for unused registration on your previous state’s license plate.

Similarly, your automobile insurance will need to be amended to correctly reflect your Wisconsin address. A change in insurance rates will probably occur with that change of address. Please check with your friendly insurance agent to determine time limits for reporting your address change.

Enforcement

Although there is no coordinated effort to enforce these other obligations of residence that are required upon registering to vote in Wisconsin, with the online voter registration database it would be simple enough to check. It is in Wisconsin’s best interests to enforce requirements for income taxation, driver and vehicle registration as a means to increase revenues to the State Treasury.

Health and automobile insurers have an interest in identifying students who are no longer qualified to be covered by their parents' coverage. Proof of residency could include a check of the voter database as a telltale for refusing coverage of these college age children.

Two months late, but this is a follow-up to my Maple Cured Bacon episode showing what I did with the rest of that pork belly. I made pancetta with the last piece of pork.

Again I take my recipe from Charcuterie by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn. The recipe includes dark brown sugar, cloves, juniper berries, bay leaves, nutmeg thyme, black pepper, kosher salt, and curing (pink) salt. That mixture is shown in the bowl above and is rubbed over the surface of the belly. Placed in a zipper bag, the pancetta cures for one week in the refrigerator. Clicky-click any of the pictures for a larger view.

After removal from the bag, the curing spices are rinsed from the pork, the pork is then patted dry and heavily coated with coarse ground black pepper.

Although pancetta is normally rolled and tied, the recipe says it can be left flat as an option. I found that the meat was too stiff to roll so I left it flat. The pancetta is then wrapped in cheesecloth and hung in a cool, humid place for two weeks. For me, that was the corner of my basement over the sump.

After the two week aging period, I cut that flat piece into four smaller pieces, each about 4 x 4 inches. I sealed three and froze them and immediately used the other one for cooking.

This final picture shows the finished pancetta. I was away for 4 nights and my family ate all of my first square except for that small wedge in the front. The rest is safely in freezer bags.

The pancetta is excellent and simple to make. It is every bit as good as commercial products that I have used.

The Headless family cooked up several slices and added the cooked pancetta to a chicken pasta dish. The pancetta added a deep meaty flavor to the pasta.

Thursday, October 02, 2008

I especially like the part where O'Reilly yells at Barney about solid, cocks and says "You are not man enough." Barney could barely choke out a reply and when he tried to play the Gay Card, O'Reilly jammed it right down his throat.

I am still not over my obsession with non-resident UW students committing vote fraud by registering and voting in Wisconsin. This is despite the fact that Wisconsin statutes specifically allow them to register and vote here.

The Wisconsin Legislature has gamed the State’s voting laws in order to encourage voting by non-resident students (D-IL) in Wisconsin elections. In doing so, they ignore and contradict other sections of the voting laws; as well as regulations regarding driver registration, residency rules for the state universities, requirements for filing Wisconsin taxes, and IRS rules for claiming dependents.

The reason for my obsession

In the last two presidential elections, Wisconsin was carried by the Democratic candidate by tight margins.

Gore by 5,708 votes in 2000Kerry by 11,384 votes in 2004

When compared to the 2007-08 UW System non-resident student population of 34,361, voting by non-resident students in Wisconsin could easily have made the difference in each election. These non-resident student voters may throw Wisconsin to Obama in 2008.

Simple English

Before looking at the law, let me make one thing perfectly clear: You can have only one residence at any one time. That residence is not the hotel room, timeshare, cruise ship cabin, temporary apartment or dormitory room where you stay for part of the year. Your residence is what it is. It is the place that you call home.

You do not get to arbitrarily chose where your residence is in order to meet the rules for a special circumstance, such as registering to vote, while ignoring the other obligations associated with establishing your residence, such as obtaining a driver’s license.

For college students the residency test is pretty simple. Their home is the place where they live when they are not in school during the summer. If they stay in their apartment near campus in Madison, that is their home. But if they pack up and return to Mommy’s house when classes end in May, their residence is in Naperville, not Madison.

If fact, this circumstance is recognized by Wisconsin's Department of Revenue, and is even used as an example in it's Publication 122.

Example 2: You graduated from high school in Minnesota where you lived with your parents. In August of 2007, you moved to Wisconsin to attend the University of Wisconsin. You do not plan to remain in Wisconsin after you complete your course of study at the university. You do not take any steps to abandon your Minnesota residence or to acquire a new residence in Wisconsin. You are a nonresident of Wisconsin for 2007.

The answer to this test also has consequences as to the state the student must file taxes in and whether their parents may claim them as dependents. Those details will be discussed in a later episode.

Ask the UW

Because I am concerned with the resident status of college students, the rules of the University of Wisconsin System have some relevance. The UW has it figured out. It is not a matter of choice or "election," they have hard and fast rules with a rational basis behind them. Section 36.27(2)(d) of the Statutes is a concise summary.

In determining bona fide residence at the time of the beginning of any semester or session and for the preceding 12 months the intent of the person to establish and maintain a permanent home in Wisconsin is determinative. In addition to representations by the student, intent may be demonstrated or disproved by factors including, but not limited to, timely filing of a Wisconsin income tax return of a type that only full-year Wisconsin residents may file, voter registration in Wisconsin, motor vehicle registration in Wisconsin, possession of a Wisconsin operator's license, place of employment, self support, involvement in community activities in Wisconsin, physical presence in Wisconsin for at least 12 months preceding the beginning of the semester or session for which the student registers, and, if the student is not a U.S. citizen, possession of a visa that permits indefinite residence in the United States. Notwithstanding par. (a), a student who enters and remains in this state principally to obtain an education is presumed to continue to reside outside this state and such presumption continues in effect until rebutted by clear and convincing evidence of bona fide residence.

Although the UW is abundantly clear and rational as to who is resident and who is a non-resident, the legislature provides an irrational and arbitrary loophole in the voting laws.

6.10 Elector residence. (12) Student status shall not be a consideration in determining residence for the purpose of establishing voter eligibility.

Nice try, but this does not override the definition of “residence” in the remainder of Section 6.10 and, by the way, violates the equal protection clause of the Wisconsin Constitution.

What the voting laws say

The Wisconsin Constitution states the following.

ARTICLE III. SUFFRAGEElectors. Every United States citizen age 18 or older who is a resident of an election district in this state is a qualified elector of that district.

It further specifically allows the Legislature to define residency for voting.

6.02 Qualifications, general. (1) Every U.S. citizen age 18 or older who has resided in an election district or ward for 10 days before any election where the citizen offers to vote is an eligible elector.

6.10 Elector residence. Residence as a qualification for voting shall be governed by the following standards:

(1) The residence of a person is the place where the person’s habitation is fixed, without any present intent to move, and to which, when absent, the person intends to return.

(4) The residence of an unmarried person sleeping in one ward and boarding in another is the place where the person sleeps. The residence of an unmarried person in a transient vocation, a teacher or a student who boards at different places for part of the week, month or year, if one of the places is the residence of the person’s parents, is the place of the parents’ residence unless through registration or similar act the person elects to establish a residence elsewhere.

(8) No person gains a residence in any ward or election district of this state while there for temporary purposes only.

There is a lot there, and the pieces must be put together in context to determine their meaning.

Student housing at the residential halls in the UW system is for a nine month period. The contract runs from mid-August through mid-May, at which time the students must vacate their dormitories. Within the context of paragraph (1) of Elector Residence, university sponsored housing cannot be "the place where the person’s habitation is fixed (...) and to which, when absent, the person intends to return." This is simply because every May, students living in residence halls are tossed to the street and must return to their permanent residence. For these students, that "place where the person’s habitation is fixed" is usually Mommy's house, and cannot be a UW residence hall which, by definition, is a transient habitation.

Paragraph (4) of Elector Residence confuses this distinction by allowing these students to "elect to establish a residence elsewhere" through voter registration. This election cannot be made by dormitory students, because the dorms are transient habitation and cannot rationally be elected as their residence. Furthermore, Paragraph (8) states that "No person gains a residence in any ward or election district of this state while there for temporary purposes only" and this includes students (Paragraph (12)).

Paragraph (4) also allows an elector to choose their residence in an irrational and arbitrary manner. The addition of the “unless through registration or similar act the person elects to establish a residence elsewhere” clause is unnecessary. If a student does take action to establish his or her residence at the location that they attend school, they are no longer “a student who boards at different places for part of the week, month or year.” They are a full-time resident of that place and no further distinction is needed in the Statute. Furthermore, any election of residence for voting is irrational and arbitrary unless all other actions to establish residency are completed (see the UW requirements for residency for the elements of a rational test).

UW officials facilitate vote fraud

The Wisconsin Statutes allow the following as proof of residence for college students.

6.34 Proof of Residence6.34 (3) (a) 7. A university, college, or technical college fee or identification card that contains a photograph of the cardholder. A card under this subdivision that does not contain the information specified in par. (b) shall be considered proof of residence if the university, college, or technical college that issued the card provides a certified and current list of students who reside in housing sponsored by the university, college, or technical college to the municipal clerk prior to the election showing the current address of the students and if the municipal clerk, special registration deputy, or inspector verifies that the student presenting the card is included on the list.

This Statutory wording provides the University of Wisconsin with direction to facilitate voter fraud. It is already established that university residence halls cannot be the residence of the students that live in them for nine months of the year. By registering and voting by declaring their dorm room as their “residence,” these student have committed vote fraud. The university officials are parties to these fraudulent acts by certifying that these transient locations are the bona fide residence of the students.

What to do

The obvious way to attack the problem of fraudulent student voting is to challenge the registration of these voters. However this is unlikely to achieve success with partisan city clerks. A court challenge will likely be needed to resolve this issue. This would be a welcome second front in the war with ACORN.

Bring. It. On.

Coming soon

I have plans to address the consequences to the student and their parents of voter registration, but that's another episode.

A word of advance warning, the declaration of a university address as a student's residence will affect the ability of his or her parents to declare the student as a dependent. This is true for both resident and non-resident students.

Bleg

I need access to the a five point test to determine reasonableness from Omernik v. State, 64 Wis. 2d 6, 218 N.W.2d 734 (1974) for a future blogpost. Any help in locating this would be greatly appreciated.

UPDATE:

Apparently I am not completely off the wall here. Michael Krauss at NRO points to some case law supporting my position and provides some relevant examples of the consequences of a student changing their residence.